Posted on 11/02/2025 6:19:47 AM PST by marktwain
In the recent discourse around the potential removal of suppressors and short barrel rifles from the provisions of the National Firearms Act (NFA) and its tax and registration requirements, a point made repeatedly was that if the tax was repealed but the registration stayed, the latter would be illegal as it was only ever justified by the former.
This is indeed correct, as from its inception, the NFA was justified as a tax, with the registration being incidental to that tax and only existing ostensibly to ensure the tax was properly paid for each NFA item sold. Then-Attorney General Cummings was clear about this in his testimony to Congress during the debates over the bill in 1934:<
Courts have consistently upheld the NFA, and its registration provision, on the grounds that it was a tax. Some who tried to challenge the law even argued that the tax was a pretext, with the real aim being to unconstitutionally restrict the arms included in the NFA. The Supreme Court rejected this argument in 1937, just a few years after the NFA was first enacted in Sonzinsky v. United States, 300 U.S. 506, 512-514 (1937):
“Petitioner. . .insists that the present levy is not a true tax, but a penalty imposed for the purpose of suppressing traffic in a certain noxious type of firearms, the local regulation of which is reserved to the states because not granted to the national government. . . But a tax is not any the less a tax because it has a regulatory effect. . . Here the annual tax of $200 is productive of some revenue.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
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The National Firarms Tax for short barreled rifles and shotguns, for silencers/suppressors and any other weapons, has been reduced to zero. The law takes effect on 1 January, 2026.
Can’t tax voting so why can they tax firearms??
Thanks for that reminder!
Just Like Obamacare.............It’s a TAX! ...... It’s FEE!......It’s a TAX! ...... It’s FEE!......It’s a TAX! ...... It’s FEE!......It’s a TAX! ...... It’s FEE!......
Hoping this will be applied to Colorados recent 6.5% tax on everything gun related.
They also can’t issue a journalist license, but that doesn’t stop the eneMedia from cheerleading FOR firearm licensing.
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So if the tax has been removed, are there still “registration” requirements? I thought the only reason you applied for the purchase was to track the “tax.” If the “tax” is gone, then we should be able to buy suppressors off the shelf, no?
(Genuinely ignorant here, as I don’t own any NFA items.)
It’s different…some NFA items aren’t allowed to move across state lines w/o a mother may I from the atf. So is that tracking a tax or tracking a particular FA? To me it’s the later…
I think it’s absurd that you have to jump through hoops to buy a muffler, just because it goes on a firearm.
I agree. There are several outfits in FL that make suppressors and tout the ease of purchase for FL residents. I have a family member who has suppressors for almost all of his firearms. I find the $200 (per year?!) tax egregious for something that is both a performance and safety enhancement.
Federally it is a one time $200 tax. Some states (eg MD) require an annual payment for some NFA items.
That $200 transfer tax translates to $4,921.21 today.
It was intended to punish and virtually prohibit ownership of the taxed items.
“Can’t tax voting so why can they tax firearms??
Because...Cook County, illannoy. $25 per.
It isn’t $200 per year. It is a one time tax.
So if the tax has been removed, are there still “registration” requirements? I thought the only reason you applied for the purchase was to track the “tax.” If the “tax” is gone, then we should be able to buy suppressors off the shelf, no?
There’s also a federal excise tax of 10 or 11% on ALL FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION.
First imposed on February 25, 1919, Section 4181 of the Internal Revenue Code imposes an excise tax on imported firearms and ammunition when the importer sells or uses the firearms or ammunition (FAET). A tax if 10 percent of the sales price is imposed on pistols and revolvers, and a tax of 11 percent of the sales price is imposed on other portable weapons (e.g., rifles and shotguns) and ammunition. The excise tax is not imposed again unless the firearms and ammunition are further manufactured. At one time, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was responsible for collecting FAET. However, since January 2003, this responsibility rests with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), U.S. Dept. of Treasury.
“Off the Shelf” is when I move for one.
So it is illegal to require that firearms to be registered, and there is no tax, then the NFA registration is also illegal.
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